Tomorrow
by neoellimist
Summary: (NurikoTasuki) Finished. Tasuki and Nuriko talk about the way things will end up...


Disclaimer: I do not own Fushigi Yuugi, unfortunately. The great Watase- sama does.  
  
This has NOTHING to do with my other fanfic, 'What I've Been Looking For'. Yet, at least.  
  
This is after the episode where Nuriko dies, but I decided that was too sad and had Mitsukake and the others come at just the right moment.  
  
*******  
  
The purple haired seishi groaned, feeling as if he'd been caught in between Miaka and food, and was run over. 'And if her shoes had teeth,' he thought to himself, grimacing as he slowly opened his bubble gum-pink eyes.  
  
"Nuriko-san," Mitsukake said, smiling his gentle smile. "I am glad to see you awake. Tasuki has been here ever since I let him out of his bed. He was hurt pretty badly."  
  
"Really?" Nuriko asked, grinning. He looked over and saw the bandit, his head resting in the foot of the bed, asleep.  
  
"He was hurt pretty badly. He tried to kill Ashitare after he nearly killed you," Mitsukake explained.  
  
Nuriko gazed at his fiery-haired friend. Mitsukake quietly got up and left the room.  
  
"Hey Tasuki," Nuriko said, nudging Tasuki's head with his foot. A terrible pain shot throughout his body, but Tasuki woke up with a start.  
  
"I'm awake, I'm awake!" he yelled, still in sleep's hold. He had gotten quite a lack of sleep, knowing that Nuriko was so injured... Once he came back to himself, he sat back in his chair. "Nuriko-chan, how are you feeling?"  
  
"I'll live," he responded. "What happened, though?"  
  
Tasuki stood up, his hands on his hips, ready to yell at Nuriko. "Why the hell did ya go after Ashitare alone?! If Mitsukake hadn't been there, you woulda DIED! Ya stupid... playing the hero..." But he soon stopped talking, preferring to just look at Nuriko.  
  
"I didn't go after him, he attacked me!" Nuriko protested.  
  
"But ya left Miaka and Tamahome. I knew ya shoulda come with us, where I can keep an eye on ya." Tasuki winced even as he said this, afraid he was acting too flirtatious.  
  
Nuriko was clearly amused, but he successfully resisted the urge to tease Tasuki. "Tasuki-kun, is something wrong? You've been kinda out of it since we left Konan. Even since the Star Festival." Nuriko remembered that night well. Tasuki and himself had taken Miaka to cheer her up, but after Miaka had left them, it was just the two seishi. "C'mon, tell me your troubles," he said lightly.  
  
Tasuki sighed and shook his head. "I know it's not my place to be thinkin' and worryin' all the time... Chiriko's the smart one, but... Nuriko, after everything is over, what's gonna happen?"  
  
"You mean after Suzaku is summoned?"  
  
"I guess. I dunno what I mean. What if, before we do summon 'im, that someone really DOES die? There are so many things that can go wrong here!" he yelled, hot tears of frustration pricking his eyes. Suddenly regaining himself, he rested back again and laughed sardonically.  
  
Nuriko knew that Tasuki wanted to speak, so he just kept quiet. His body hurt, but seeing Tasuki in tears made his heart hurt.  
  
Tasuki's face softened again. "I always thought th' bandits back on Mount Reikaku were my brothers. An' they are, in a way. Very good friends, at the least. But I never knew love before I joined up with everyone. Jeez, I sound like a girl!"  
  
"Oh, that's okay. I spent the greater part of my life trying to do that!" Nuriko said mildly.  
  
"I guess what I'm tryin' to say is..." He hesitated. "I like the way things are, y' know? I like bein' around everyone, even when y'all get annoying."  
  
"That's comforting."  
  
"Like NOW," he said, eyes narrowing. He sighed. "But we're in a war. I mean, who knows who will be dead tomorrow? Maybe we'll leave this house, and step right into a Kutou trap, and then all hopes for Suzaku and Konan will be gone. I guess that's the one thing I'm afraid of, 'sides water: losing you guys. And it's not like any of us are psychic, we'd never know it was comin'..."  
  
"I know. It could only take one minute to change everything," Nuriko agreed. He smiled, and Tasuki noticed the look of serenity in the seishi's eyes. "But there's nothing we can do to stop time. Tomorrow the sun will rise, just like it has been. We can't look back; we've just got to keep on working as hard as we can. I knew I had to move that rock blocking the cave the Shinzaho was in, and I couldn't just take that decision back. We've just got to learn to be content. For now, I'm surrounded by my friends, and if one of them, Suzaku forbid, dies, I KNOW that they will still be here in spirit. I think as the celestial warriors, our spirits are bound together inextricably, and not even Seiryuu himself could tear us apart. Whether we live or die, we're all going to meet again someday."  
  
Tasuki looked at him in amazement. "So you've thought of this before, huh?" Nuriko nodded. "Well, ya sure know how to give a speech." He still sat in his chair, with no intention whatsoever to leave Nuriko, though his body cried out for sleep.  
  
The pain medicines starting to kick in, Nuriko was able to get up enough to kneel on his bed, facing Tasuki. He took the bandit's hands and kissed them briefly.  
  
"Tasuki-kun, no matter what happens, I promise you that I'll always be there for you tomorrow," Nuriko said solemnly.  
  
"Nuriko..." he began, but his voice trailed off as he got lost in his beloved seishi's eyes.  
  
The air of seriousness suddenly disappeared, and Nuriko's eyes sparkled as he drew Tasuki nearer to him. "And I'll stay where you can keep an eye on me," he said mischievously.  
  
*******  
  
Never forget us, please... ~Eikoden 


End file.
